Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has firmly refuted allegations of a conflict of interest involving the Director of IIT Madras in connection with the NEET-UG 2024 examination. This response follows the release of detailed city and centre-wise results for the 24 lakh students who appeared for the test.
The NTA has come under scrutiny due to alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam, including claims of a paper leak. Addressing these concerns, the NTA clarified in an affidavit that the IIT Madras Director, who is an ex-officio member of the NTA governing body, plays no part in the exam’s core functions. These responsibilities are handled by the NTA’s managing committee, with the governing body only addressing policy matters. The NTA also noted that the IIT Director had not attended any NTA General Body meetings since December 2022.
The controversy intensified during a Supreme Court hearing on July 18, where petitioners called for a retest of NEET-UG, citing the alleged conflict of interest. They argued that the IIT Madras Director should not have prepared the data analytics report due to his position in the NTA governing body.
In response to the Supreme Court’s directive, the NTA was ordered to publish the NEET-UG 2024 results city-wise and centre-wise by noon on Saturday, ensuring the candidates’ identities were masked. This data, encompassing over 32 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres, was released in a non-cumulative format through a drop-down menu for each centre.
The performance of candidates from certain scrutinized centres, such as Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, Hardayal Public School in Jhajjar, Haryana, and Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat, was notably below par. The NEET-UG test, taken by over 23.33 lakh students on May 5 across 4,750 centres in 571 cities (including 14 overseas), faced cancellation due to allegations of paper leaks and instances of candidates achieving perfect scores, leading to widespread protests.
In previous affidavits, the Centre and the NTA had argued that cancelling the exam would be “counterproductive” and detrimental to the interests of countless honest candidates, especially in the absence of evidence indicating a large-scale breach of confidentiality.
The NEET-UG examination, administered by the NTA, is essential for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and related courses in both government and private institutions across India.
